Bulls' latest: Pick imminent

Del Negro, Casey, Person told team to decide soon

Chuck Person, Dwane Casey and Vinny Del Negro have been told a decision on the Bulls' coaching job is imminent, according to sources close to all three candidates.

Those three interviewed last week -- Person and Casey for the second time -- as general manager John Paxson prepared for what he likely sensed was inevitable: the mutual decision of Doug Collins and Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to end Collins' candidacy.

Sources said the Bulls talked Saturday with Del Negro, although nobody indicated negotiations had begun with the Suns' assistant general manager, who has no previous coaching experience.

Del Negro, 42, also interviewed for the Suns' coaching job, which Terry Porter landed Saturday. Porter, according to a league source, signed a three-year, $7 million deal.

The Bulls showed little interest in Porter, who previously coached the Bucks. But Porter's contract gives a relative guideline for what any of the known remaining Bulls candidates might land.

That, obviously, would fall far short of the $5 million to $6 million annually it would have taken to land Mike D'Antoni or Collins.

Del Negro didn't make the Suns' list of four finalists. Suns general manager Steve Kerr, in discussing Porter's hire, stressed the value of previous coaching experience.

If Paxson uses the same guideline, Casey is the most qualified candidate; he's the only one with head-coaching experience, going 53-69 in 1 1/2 seasons with the Timberwolves. Casey, 51, also has 11 years' experience as an assistant coach and spent four seasons as Nate McMillan's associate head coach in Seattle.

Casey was said to have impressed Reinsdorf during his second interview Wednesday. Paxson, according to sources, touched base with representatives for Casey and Person.

Paxson has maintained a low profile throughout the coaching search, which is in its eighth week.

By all accounts, however, the search will end soon. The Bulls have given no indications they will wait for Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau, who is working in the NBA Finals against the Lakers.

"He has an unfair advantage," Lakers star Kobe Bryant said. "He started drilling me, NBA basketball drills, when I was 14. I've been facing his defense here for some time, and they're tough, very, very tough. Every single team he has been on had great strategies and physical defense. He's awesome."